The Role of Data in Tribal and Native Economic Development
Evaluating Existing data Sources and Tribal & Native Opportunities to Fill Data Gaps
“Indigenous data sovereignty is the right of Indigenous peoples and tribes to govern the collection, ownership, and application of their own data”
This session featured a panel of data experts who shared their experience working with and collecting new tribal and Native economic data.
Subject matter experts
Key Takeaways
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Federal, state, local, and tribal governments & communities play key roles in sharing, displaying, and collecting tribal and Native data, but so do national nonprofits, intergovernmental entities, inter-tribal entities/Native nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, and academic research institutions.
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Existing data is not exhaustive; data gaps still exist in tribal and Native lands due to long-standing barriers including historical prejudice, data collection and reporting practices that excluded Native people, and lack of understanding and respect of tribal sovereignty.
Tribes and organizations that collect and evaluate their own data have access to the most updated, relevant, and thus useful data that exists in Indian Country.
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Research on Indian Country finances, debt, and credit history provide insight that funding partners can use to break down barriers tribal communities face in attracting and accessing capital and other financial resources.
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Session Summary
Data Gaps and their Impact on tribal and Native Communities
Underlying challenges that tribes, tribal enterprises and individual Native business owners face in obtaining grants, loans and other capital is the lack of accurate or relevant data concerning tribal and Native economies and the conditions within Native lands. These data gaps exist in sectors like finance, housing and real estate markets, economic development, and consumer information and impact the way tribal and Native communities make decisions and access resources. Read more about data gaps on slide 11 of the session materials.
NOTE: A gap may be present not only due to the complete absence of data, but also because existing data is not considered relevant, accurate, precise, complete or current/timely.
When evaluating tribal economic data, consider its...
Relevance: Fitness of data for its intended use or purpose.
Sample Questions: Can the data be broken out based on Tribal boundaries/geographies? Can Native/AIAN individuals or households be distinguished?
Accuracy/Validity: Extent to which data correctly represents phenomena they are intended to measure.
Completeness: Determination as to whether all required and expected data elements are present.
On the topic of challenges that data gaps create, Jamie Olson from Oweesta noted that the majority of financial institutions have historically perceived lending to tribal and Native peoples as “risky”. These institutions have operated under the narrative that tribal members do not pay their loans, that financial institutions are unable to set up in rural areas and/or not competent working with Indian trust lands.
How Data Gaps Are Being Filled
Rounding out the stories told about Native communities is critical for increasing equity. Beyond evaluating whether existing data is accurate, relevant and current, there are opportunities and initiatives for tribes and Native enterprises to have their data collected, validated and accepted by lenders, investors, government agencies and philanthropic entities.
For example, Oweesta has collected and compiled data about Native Community Development Financial Institutions (Native CDFIs) - which provide financing and other resources specifically to tribes and tribal entities, the results of which tell us that lending to American Indian and Native Communities is NOT inherently risky. Showing these data to financers agencies, and the reality that they uncover, is integral for increasing funding equity on tribal lands.
Other entities and partners across and beyond Indian Country are working to fill data gaps:
CICD is filling gaps with research and data analysis focusing on access to capital, economic diversification, and Indian Country’s economic ecosystem. They are also working on projects developed in partnership with Indian Country and shared broadly with Native communities, organizations, and policymakers. These national data tools and more are available through the CICD website.
Oweesta provides quarterly reports to investors such as Quarterly Overview of Finance, Lending & Investments, Finance Report, Lending Report, Health of the Portfolio, Investment Report, and Impact Report. Read more about the data that Oweesta collects on slide 35 of the session materials.
Accelerate Montana’s Indigenous Outreach Program collects data about specific needs within Indigenous communities. When determining what information to collect and how to use it, Accelerate MT builds authentic relationships with tribal communities, tribal colleges, native and local organizations, and subject matter experts and engages in discussions with community members to understand their needs. This proactive engagement ensures that the data collected will be relevant and useful for informing future planning that addresses the community’s needs.
Data Security
With sovereignty comes responsibility and decision-making. Tribes should consider disclosing their own data to allow investors and financing/lending entities to evaluate risk and opportunity. Establishing trusted partnerships often increases how comfortable a tribe is sharing their data and may catalyze the institution of vital statistics or records offices, planning departments, or business resource centers.
There are many industry practices implemented to ensure tribal and Native data is secure and private. Organizations create or follow set guidelines or principles created with their partners to ensure comfort, respect, and security. Examples of these practices are discussed by CICD on slide 25 of the session materials.
EDA Corner
EDA’s national technical assistance and capacity building resources are helping regions to capitalize on the historic opportunity to build inclusive, competitive regional economies that work for all. Mark Garcia from the U.S. Economic Development Admiration shared this sheet of EDA data resources that tribal economic development practitioners can use as you are gathering data on distress, industry clusters, and other assets in your region. Data and information from these tools can inform an EDA application or an upcoming CEDS update.
Closing Thoughts
Resources like the subject matter experts and organizations they represent are available to help tribes and their programs start their own data evaluation and collection projects.
There were many questions posed by participants during the session. Those questions, with answers from the Resource Group and fellow participants, will continue to be posted in the Knowledge Bank on the CoP website. If you have questions that you want answered, please ask in the LinkedIn group or share it with the administrators.